12 August 2025 (sunny and extremely hot) 78km

After probably one of our most private pitches, you'd be expecting me to say I had a great night's sleep. But no. Firstly, both of us were hot and sticky from the day before and with no river, or shower, we ended up in bed like that. 

But it wasn't just that. The neighbour across the road firstly had an argument with his wife, for all to hear, (except sleeping beauty next to me) on their front door step.

Then he had a friend arrive. Don't know if he has no rooms in his abode, but he didn't want to let his friend in. 

Down the road were a group of guys, who may have had a few too many. Their party piece was singing as loud as they could. Let me tell you, it was no Tom Jones.

But the worst and most annoying (and Julia did hear this), were the bloody dogs barking all night, with very little respite. 

Ju here, when the neighbour's dog started barking at 2am, there was no ignoring it. He was obviously a big dog with a bark to match. He would say his bit, and then echoing around the valley would come various replies. These were more distant, so easier to ignore, but not so for our furry neighbour. He felt the need to answer every reply and this went on for about an hour. Not sure if he stopped or we finally managed to ignore him and drop off.

So when Pete woke me at 5.20am, I struggled out of a deep sleep with only the thought of leaving this place encouraging me to move. Back to Pete.

We were on the road by 6.05am. First up, 800 metres straight off the bat, out of the valley and over the mountain.

Had a protective dog chase us up one particular stretch, but a gruff "get out of it", sent him turning the other way.

Both feeling particularly strong at present and with a steady turn of the pedals, we were soon at the top and enjoying a nice 7km downhill to another higher elevated valley. 

The road we were on was a main road, but not bad for traffic.

Road condition pretty good, and the closer we got to Croatia, the more the scenery improved.

We made good headway through the valley and then had another shorter stint uphill and a lovely downhill to the Croatian border.

No problem getting through and no queues. We stumbled upon a natural spring and filled our water bottles, then sat in the shade, and enjoyed a piece of fruit.

We weren't far now from Knin, our resting place for the night at 78km. 

It was now unbearably hot.

Julia had heard of Krcic waterfalls and swimming hole.

By adding an additional 4km, we could be submerged in cold water. 

Turned up and rode virtually right up to them, other than a fifty metre walk on a paved pathway.

Only a young teenage girl there when we arrived.

We watched as she navigated her way down the rocks, carefully selecting the right route. 

Followed in her footsteps and found ourselves on the edge of the river where the water has just come out of the falls.

The colour was stunning, as was the temperature.

The coldest we've been in.

However, that didn't stop us repeatedly jumping back in again.

By now a French couple and their teenagers had arrived.

Dad led the way and it took the kids a good while to follow-suit. 

This, as far as water fun has been, was the best.

Even though the water temperature was cold, as soon as you climbed out, the air temperature soon warmed you up again so you were happy to dive in again.

The setting was gorgeous and we were so glad we went. 

The four kilometre ride to the accommodation we'd booked in the middle of Knin was only bearable due to the swimming. The heat was rolling over us in waves and our arms felt like they were too close to the elements in the oven. 

We arrived at the accommodation but our room wasn't quite ready so we sat outsidein the shade at the bar downstairs with a cold drink. We used their WiFi to blog.

There are no campgrounds here or even close, so 90 euro for the night. Hopefully the air conditioning will prove worth it.

Waited another hour before we were shown our room and chatted to a young German guy from Munich on his way to Greece.

He was hoping to get to Split tonight, but thats another 85kms and in this heat, that's dodgy.

Room clean, tidy and small but has a balcony for bike storage.

Washed clothes and showered and then settled in with the air conditioning on (which is excellent) to write and start working out our exit plan from Europe, as we have to book something soon. Otherwise, we won't be able to afford a get out fare. 

At 6.30pm we decided to wander up the road and check out Knin Fortress. It is one of the oldest and largest in Europe at 470 metres long by 110 metres wide.

It was begun in the 9th century with renovations carried out in the time of the Ottaman Empire.

Under Ottaman rule from 1580- 1688. 

By 8.45pm we were sitting in a cafe/bar drinking and eating cevapi and chicken skewers. What drew us to this place were the succulent pictures of skewers, char grilled eggplant and zucchini and sauteed mushrooms. So we ordered those along with the meat but apparently they don't sell any of them! They obviously thought the pictures looked nice too. So meat, fries and bread it was.

Tomorrow we have 800 metres climbing over 70kms in 38 degrees.

Times like this we could use our crop sprayers back again.

Have to be up early to beat the heat, but it's hard when you're staying in a nice room with a bed.

The air conditioning has been a lifesaver this afternoon and the heat was still very noticeable on the walk up to the fort. 

Better go. My phones on 9%.

Will need it fully charged for tomorrow. Today has been very enjoyable and we're so glad we came back into Croatia.